Alpe d'Huez – The twists and turns of the 21-bend finale of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes

Even when you strip away all the fanfare and crowds of race day, the road up Alpe d’Huez seems to echo with tales of some of the most memorable battles in cycling history, and on Sunday, August 18, 2024, the Tour de France Femmes will be another distinct chapter.

The ascent with 21 famous bends where so many thrilling battles of the men’s Tour de France, is dotted with signposts counting down to the top, provides more than a marker of the ever-increasing altitude, also paying homage to the winners of the stages that played out on the slopes of 13.8km climb in the Alps. The names that have earned themselves a place on those bend markers since the climb first appeared in the Tour de France in 1952, becoming the first mountain top finish of the race, include Fausto Coppi, Bernard Hinault, Marco Pantani, Thibaut Pinot, Geraint Thomas and, most recently, Tom Pidcock. 

This history means the inclusion of Alpe d’Huez adds another layer to the building mystique of the latest incarnation of the women’s race, the Tour de France Femmes. It comes after the event included the unrelenting Col du Tourmalet in 2023 – where Demi Vollering rode away to claim the dramatic queen stage and the yellow jersey –and the combined challenge of gravel and gradient on the La Super Planche des Belles Filles in the first edition in 2022, won by now retired Annemiek van Vleuten.

Still, it is not the first time the Alpe d'Huez has featured in the women's race for yellow. The climb that winds its way up from Bourg d’Oisans was, over the decades, included in different incarnations of the women’s race, from the official Women’s Tour de France, which ran through from 1984 to 1989 to the Tour Cycliste Féminin and the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, which last ran in 2009. 

The details of those battles of old on the fabled mountain may not have drawn intense worldwide attention, though, with the spotlight, the Tour de France Femmes has turned on the sport that will change in 2024.

The location

In the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes in 2022, the race ventured to the Vosges for its key climbing stages, then it was into the Pyrenees and up the Col du Tourmalet in 2023. The 2024 Tour de France Femmes route will take the race to the Alps for the first time, but it is somewhat an unusual path to get there. 

The 946.3km eight-stage and seven-day race from August 12-18 will work its way from a Rotterdam start, then through Belgium before reaching France on stage 5 and then heading toward back-to-back summit finishes for the final two stages.

The first mountain day comes on stage 7, which is a 167km stage with 3,100m of climbing that ends on top of Le Grand-Bornand, and then the final finish line of the race comes on stage 8 atop Alpe d'Huez.

The climb

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The Alpe d'Huez, when viewed in isolation, may not be one of the most formidable climbs in the race history. After all, it doesn't have the gravel sections or steep pitches of up to 20% of La Super Planche des Belles Filles and falls short of the 17km length of the Col du Tourmalet. However, there's always been so much more to the ascent than just 13.8km at an average gradient of 8.1%.

The history of the climb is heightened by the dramatic series of hairpins, raucous crowds and, importantly, the drama and ascents that have already unfolded earlier in the stage. 

Before stage 8 finishes on the 21 hairpin bends, the 150km route with 3,900m of altitude gain will drop down from Le Grand-Bornand to traverse the Col de Tamié (9.5km at 4%) before the 30km mark has even been hit. 

Then, there is a relatively flat stretch for more than 40 kilometres before the race reaches the Col du Glandon (19.7km at 7.2%) and the highest point of the day at 1,924m near the 100km mark of the stage. After rolling through Bourg d'Oisans, nestled in the valley, it is then onto the crowning climb, where the yellow jersey of the Tour de France Femmes will settle on the third winner of the race.

First, though, there are 21 hairpin bends to contend with. Though the cyclo-tourists may enjoy the numbered signs with the cute picture of marmots and homage to past winners on race day, they'll be lost in the crowds and all-encompassing effort the lead contenders will put into delivering the best finish possible in the world's biggest bike race.

It's no easy beginning, with the first two kilometres delivering gradients over 10% through the first five bends, a mild easing as the climb crosses the village of Le Garde with the gradient hovering from 9% to 7.5% through to the point where there is just over 5km remaining. 

A brief reprieve at the village with a kilometre at 6.5% soon gives way to one of the toughest sections of the climb at 11.5%. The final three kilometres, in terms of gradient, are the easiest of the climb – with gradients of around 5% – but for many, are likely to be the hardest of the 946km event between the accumulated fatigue and highest of stakes.

The stakes

Everything is up for grabs on Alpe d'Huez as it marks the final climb on the final stage of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes. There is every chance that clear gaps could have emerged on the tough parcours of the penultimate day, with its Le Grand-Bornand summit finish. Still, with so much climbing packed into the last 150km of racing on Sunday, August 18, there will be no chance for anyone to rest on their laurels until they cross the finish line on the open expanses of the summit of Alpe d'Huez.

Not only is the stage itself brutal, but with a week of racing already in the legs, plus the Paris Olympic Games just before, there is no telling what havoc the accumulated fatigue could wreak. It will be a true test of stamina and climbing prowess.

There is plenty to unfold before racing takes place, but the early favourite to once again claim yellow is clearly the 2023 victor, Demi Vollering, who is also surrounded by a powerful SD Worx team. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) is a likely potential challenger, and the climbing prowess of Juliette Labous, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep) and Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich) should help the chances of the trio given the back-to-back summit finishes.